


Love at the Right Angle

by miraculousstorytelling



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: All sides of the love square, F/M, Identity Reveal, Pun Reveal, Tutoring trope?, is that a thing?, math puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8620915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousstorytelling/pseuds/miraculousstorytelling
Summary: When Marinette struggles to understand some of the concepts from her math class, her teacher suggests Adrien might be a good tutor. Of course, nothing is quite so simple when the love square comes into play.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ladyserendipitous who suggested the title.

"You wanted to see me, Madame Descartes?" Marinette asked softly, approaching her teacher only after the rest of the class had left.

"Yes, Marinette." Her teached sighed, setting aside the stack of papers in her hands. "I'm concerned about your recent test grades."

"Me, too," Marinette confessed, looking down and clutching her purse strap tighter. "I'm going to try studying harder."

"If you're having trouble with the material, you may want to try asking another student for some assistance." She stood. "I've spoken to another student in one of my more advanced classes, and he's offered to meet with you after school and help you."

"Oh, that..." Marinette smiled. "That would be wonderful. Thank you."

"Of course." She smiled back. "I hope that he can help. I'll ask him to meet you in the CDI after your final class."

Marinette nodded and rushed out of the room, hoping that the promise of a tutoring session after school would help when she had to show her parents her latest test score. They'd been concerned about her latest grades as well.

 

Of course, Marinette was hardly expecting to see Adrien waiting for her when she arrived after class. She ducked behind the nearest bookcase and peered out at him, wide-eyed. He was sitting exactly where her tutor was supposed to be, but some part of her refused to believe that she was actually supposed to be meeting him. Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe her tutor was running late and Adrien had just accidentally picked the same place. Maybe...

Her excuses were cut short when he saw her and waved her over.

Marinette sent him a cheery wave and grinned a bit too wide before walking over and sitting beside him. "Did, umm... Did Madame Descartes ask you to meet me?"

He nodded. "She mentioned you were having some trouble with geometry?"

Both of them kept their voices low as they spoke, despite the fact that the area was mostly empty by now. Marinette smiled, "Th-thanks for helping me." She set her tablet and books down on the table between them. "I know you have a really busy schedule and-"

"I'm happy to make time for a friend." Adrien smiled back at her. "So, why don't we go over your latest test?"

Marinette blushed, momentarily pausing with her hand hovering an inch or so over her books. As always, she was caught offguard by his selfless desire to help the people he cared about. She finally sighed and pulled out her test. "Okay, but, um, it's a little embarrassing..."

"Everyone has to start somewhere." He briefly examined the page, eyes scanning the sea of red marks. "So, why don't you tell me where you want to start?"

She huffed out a soft sigh. "I don't really understand... well, any of this. I think I got lost two weeks ago when we started talking about angles."

"Well, it's pretty simple once you understand the basics." He tugged out his tablet and pen to draw a few figures. Unfortunately for Marinette, she found herself immediately distracted by the sight of his fingers and the soft, familiar lilt of his voice. "...and then you just solve for the variables. Does that make sense?"

"O-oh! Um..." She couldn't exactly admit that she hadn't been paying attention to him because she'd been distracted by...well, _him_ , so she settled for lying. "Yeah!"

"Okay, why don't you try solving this problem yourself?"

Marinette was really beginning to doubt the stories about ladybugs being lucky. After all, if she was so lucky, how could she keep getting herself into these sorts of situations? "Sure!"

Another hour passed, and she was no closer to understanding angles. On the plus side, she now knew the exact shade of Adrien's eyes, and she had committed the pleasant scent of his cologne to memory. Too bad her math test wouldn't cover either of those.

"Well, I'm sure we can make more progress tomorrow." Adrien stood with a small smile. "Just try going over those notes tonight and we'll pick back up then."

Marinette nodded, "Thanks, A-Adrien." She waved as he walked away, and she waited until she was sure he was out of earshot before she let her forehead thump down on the desk in front of her. "I'm gonna fail math..."

 

Of course, it was one thing to mumble that dejected phrase under her breath in the library and quite another to shout it into the cool Parisian night air. Marinette barely managed to restrain the impulse to throw her textbook out the window. Instead, she settled for shouting and tossing it to the ground below her bed.

She hadn't exactly counted on a curious Chat Noir landing on her balcony and peering into her open window. "Is everything all right?"

She shrieked and backed away from the sudden blonde intrusion, nearly falling off her bed in the process.

"Sorry! I just heard screaming, and..." His voice trailed off when he saw the math notes scattered around her. "Oh, working on homework?"

Marinette recovered in time to nod. "What are you doing out at night, Chat Noir? Is there an akuma?"

"No, I was just keeping an eye on things." He sat on the edge of her skylight, feet dangling over Marinette's bed. "I'm pretty good at math if you need some help."

She hesitated to invite him in. After all, she couldn't exactly risk him finding out who she was, but if she could actually learn this, maybe her tutoring session with Adrien would go well tomorrow. That almost made the risk worthwhile. "Really? You'd be willing to help me?"

"Of course, princess." He grinned. "I couldn't leave a damsel in distress after all."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and gathered up her notes. "Okay. I'll meet you up there. Do you want a snack?"

He perked up at the offer. "Sure."

She handed him the stack of papers. "Thanks. I'll grab something and be up in a minute. Don't come in. I don't know how I'd explain to my parents why _the_ Chat Noir was in my room."

"Of course." He saluted her and settled back onto the small balcony and glancing over Marinette's multiple attempts to solve the practice problems he'd given her only hours earlier as Adrien.

She returned moments later with a small plate of croissants. "Here you go."

He happily took the plate from her and bit into one with a grin. "Thanks, Marinette."

She chuckled and sat beside him. "I should be thanking you. After all, you save Paris and now you're helping me with my homework."

He casually leaned back. "Well, it's all in a day's work for a hero."

She barely managed to stop herself from a dramatic eye roll. "So, can you explain to me where I went wrong here?"

It was much easier to pay attention to Chat Noir than it had been to pay attention to Adrien. "See here, you just used the wrong formula."

"Wait, really?" She glanced through her notes again. "This doesn't even make sense."

"Okay, think of it this way... you're a designer, right?"

She glanced over at him with a small frown. "How did you know that?"

"I, uhh... I heard about that fashion contest you won with that Agreste kid and the pigeon feather hat."

"Oh." She couldn't quite pin down why she suspected he wasn't telling her the truth, but it was a plausible excuse, so she let it slide.

"How would you measure how much material you need if you had these dimensions?" he asked, indicating the page with one clawed finger.

She frowned. "I'd need all three sides."

"Pretend you...lost one of the measurements."

"Ugh. This is ridiculous."

"Come on, just give it a triangle." He nudged her side with a broad grin as he punned.

She just groaned in frustration, hoping to cover some of the irritation that always accompanied her partner's terrible puns. "Okay, well, would I-"

She stopped when a bright flash lit the night. They both turned to see a tall figure hovering in midair just beside the Eiffel Tower. An akuma.

Chat Noir sighed. "Sorry. I guess we'll have to chat later, purrincess." He saluted her and leapt off to fight their latest akumatized villain.

Marinette flopped onto her back with a grunt. "I _so_ don't have time for this."

Tikki hovered overhead. "Oh, Marinette."

Still, she had a responsibility that trumped her homework. "Tikki, spots on!"

 

Ladybug landed beside Chat Noir moments later. "What's the situation, kitty?"

"Good evening to you, too, milady." He turned to face down the flying woman in front of them. "Not sure yet, but she sends out light that hypnotizes people, so watch out."

"Got it."

 Ladybug squared off and prepared to grab the long kaleidoscope the villain was using to captivate her victims, hoping the akuma was trapped there, but the villain was faster than Ladybug had bargained for. She dodged out of the way, flitting around and trying to hit one of the two heroes with a blast from her weapon.

Ladybug tried to concentrate on the fight, but her exhausted brain seemed determined to figure out the answer to the math problem she'd been struggling to solve just minutes ago. She barely managed to tug Chat Noir out of the way in between her mind reminding her that the bent lamppost up ahead was forming an acute angle.

"Thanks." He glanced up at her. "Got any plans?"

"Sorry, not yet." She stood. "She's too fast."

"It doesn't hurt that she can fly."

"That, too." She grimaced. "Think you can distract her for a minute?"

"My pleasure." He grinned and jumped onto the taller building nearby to address the akumatized villain. "Hey, as much as I appreciate the attempt to lighten things up, this doesn't seem like the _brightest_ plan if you ask me." He expertly avoided the blasts from her weapon. "Especially if your aim is this pawful!"

Ladybug called for her lucky charm and scowled when a protractor dropped into her hands. "Seriously?!"

Of course, as always, it proved to be just what she needed. While Chat Noir shouted increasingly terrible puns, she was crafting a makeshift lasso with her yo-yo and the protractor. She looped the device around the villain's ankle and tugged her down. "Chat Noir!"

He leapt overhead and snatched up the kaleidoscope with a grin and a salute before landing next to Ladybug and handing it off to her.

She snapped it over her knee and quickly captured the akuma, then restored the city with a relieved smile.

Chat Noir extended a fist which she tapped lightly with hers. "A protractor?"

She shrugged. "I was working on math, and I guess my powers just...tuned in?" She sighed, resting one hand on her hip. "Kitty, if these akumas don't do me in, I'm pretty sure this math assignment will."

He brightened momentarily. "You know who's really good at math, milady?"

"Let me guess... is it you?" she asked with a small smirk.

He hesitated then chuckled. "Well, now that you mention it."

Her earrings beeped and she shook her head. "Unlike you, I have a deadline. Maybe next time."

"Wait. Actually... I do know someone."

 

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered as she flew through the night air. After feeding Tikki a few cookies, Marinette had transformed again to do what might possibly be the most reckless thing she'd ever done as Ladybug. She landed on the roof of Adrien's home and descended to his window, curiously peering in. He was seated at his desk, glancing through the Ladyblog and watching the akuma she had fought just a few days ago. She smiled fondly, taking a brief moment to observe him before finally tapping on the window.

He jumped a little and turned to look back at the window with wide green eyes. After a brief moment of surprise, he jumped to his feet, nearly falling off his chair in the process, and rushed to the window to let her in. "L-Ladybug?"

She slipped inside and smiled. "Hey, Adrien."

"Is...everything all right?"

She couldn't help but notice the light pink dusting his cheeks while he spoke, barely able to look her in the eyes. "Yeah. I just..." She chuckled. "I had a favor to ask, actually."

"Oh?" He glanced up at her.

"I heard you're amazing at math, and well..." she sighed, "I've fallen a bit behind."

"Sure, of course!" He motioned for her to follow him over to his desk and pulled up a chair she hadn't noticed before. "What are you studying?"

"Well, truth be told, I'm not sure. It has something to do with angles?" She sighed. "My friend tried explaining it to me earlier, but it still didn't make sense."

He tapped out a quick search and pulled up a page of practice problems. "Problems like this?"

She nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

"Okay, sure! I was actually helping a friend of mine with this earlier today, so I still have some of my notes." He fished his tablet out of his bag and pulled up some of the notes he'd shared with Marinette earlier. "Here it is. Okay, so first..."

This time, she fought the urge to zone out and imagine their wedding in excrutiating detail, and after a few practice problems, she found that it did _actually_ make sense.

"Okay, I think I understand." She worked out a problem on the spare paper he'd brought her and grinned when she arrived at the right answer. "That's right, isn't it?"

Adrien grinned. "Yeah, that's exactly right! I knew you'd get it if you just gave it a triangle."

Ladybug froze.

Adrien abruptly realized something was wrong when she dropped her pencil and turned to stare him down, bright blue eyes narrowed.

"Did you just say give it a _triangle_?"

"Um..." Another blush rose to his cheeks. "Well, yeah, I..."

"I have to go."

"Wait."

She stood and walked to the window. "Thanks for the help, Ch- Adrien. Thanks." Then, before he could protest, she flew off into the night.

 

Marinette couldn't look at Adrien the next day. He looked as though he hadn't slept at all, and when Nino asked if something was wrong, he just claimed he hadn't been able to fall asleep. In a way, he hadn't, because he'd spent the better part of his night regretting the stupid pun that had driven away Ladybug.

So, perhaps he could be forgiven for showing less enthusiasm than normal when he met with Marinette for their math tutoring session the next day.

When she arrived, she was fidgeting with her fingers as she stood beside him. "Um, do..." She looked down. "I um..." She took a deep breath, frustrated that she could quite manage the words she'd rehearsed during lunch. "Adrien, I think I..."

He glanced up at her, brow raised. "Is everything okay, Marinette?"

"Yeah. Just..." she finally sat beside him. "I think I get it. I just needed to look at it from a different angle."

When his expression didn't change, she frowned.

"I needed to _try_ a different _angle_." When he didn't react, Marinette huffed out an irritate sigh. "Maybe _chat_ about it a little more?"

Adrien's eyes widened. "Wait...did you...?"

"Maybe _bug_ a friend for help?"

His voice dropped to a reverent whisper, "Ladybug?"

She nodded.

He grinned. "Really?"

"Only _you_ could tell the same terrible joke twice."

He laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> This can also be found on tumblr under miraculousstorytelling.


End file.
